EDUC105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Moral Disengagement, Moral Agency, Moral Character
1 Jun 2018
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Moral Development
Morality → the fundamental questions of right and wrong, justice, fairness and
basic human rights
Two perspectives of moral development =
o Moral development as socialization
o The view that we internalize social norms as maturation
increases
o Passing down social norms to younger generation
o Child adopts ready made norms/beliefs → adult reinforcement
and modeling is critical if passing to younger generations
o Morality is also a social understanding → what is right and
what is wrong – acquired through the understanding of social
systems in which we live e.g. law, court, judicial system
o People do not always conform to social values – sometimes
they deliberately violate cultural norms of behaviour, but these
are not necessarily immoral
o Leman believes that children develop morals as a result of
gradual immersion and socialization into adult world
o Bandura contends that we learn to behave in moral/immoral
ways primarily by observing others (teachers, parents etc.)
o Moral development as moral reasoning
o Children actively construct their own ways of understanding
the world
o Moral reasoning involves analytical thinking about why we
follow ‘moral rules’
o Morality is not deemed as things that are right and
wrong/making judgments
o Focuses on the REASONING/emotions/rationality when
making moral reasons for situations
Theories of Moral Development:
o Piaget – a cognitive perspective (cognitive reasoning and moral development)
o Gradual cognitive maturity and social experience = moral
understanding
o Piaget developed moral dilemmas (a moral problem requiring
individual judgements and moral reasoning) about issues such as
clumsiness, stealing and lying – relevant to children/adolescents
o Piaget’s stages of development show each levels of cognitive
reasoning
o Morality moved through both moral realism and morality of
cooperation
o Realisation that other people have perspectives as maturation
progresses – resolved conflict is successful through cooperation
o Piaget believed there were two types of moral reasoning:
▪ Heteronomous morality → focuses on following rules and
obeying authority figures (parents etc.) whose moral authority
is supreme
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▪ Autonomous morality → moral reasoning that appreciates the
perspectives of others and motives behind their worlds and
actions
o Lawrence Kohlberg: a developmental theory
o Stages of moral reasoning
o Tested these with moral dilemmas (similar to Piaget)
o Main dilemma: Heinz Dilemma – should Heinz have stolen a drug to
save his wife or obeyed societal issues and the legal system?
o People tend to move through stages of moral reasoning/morality
1. Pre-conventional reasoning (morality is seen as a set of rules handed
down by adults)
a. Heteronomous morality (stage 1)
• Avoidance of breaking rules for fear of punishment
• Obedience for obedience’s sake
b. Individualism, instrumental purpose and exchange
▪ Acting in accordance with individual interest
➢ Essentially means that the child is oriented by their own personal needs
and the rules prescribed by other people such as adults
▪ Answer to Heinz dilemma: you should not steal as you will get
caught
2. Conventional reasoning (being a good member of society and helping
those close to you is a priority)
a. Mutual interpersonal expectations, relationships and interpersonal
conformity (stage 3)
• Living up to what is expected of you
• Mutual relations of trust and respect should be maintained
b. Social system and conscience (stage 4)
• Rules are to be upheld except when they conflict with
other social duties
• Right is contributing to society and fulfilling social duties
3. Post-conventional reasoning (individuals move beyond conventional
rules of their community to focus more broadly on what is best for society
at large, and on ways of promoting justice in society)
a. Social contract/utility and individual rights (stage 5)
• Awareness of the social contract between individuals, but
also of different moral perspectives of others
• Individual rights, however, transcend the different
perspectives of others and thus should be upheld
b. Universal, Ethical principles (stage 6)
• Following self-chosen principles
• When such principles conflict with existing moral
standards, these principles should be upheld regardless of
majority opinion
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